


Meaning Of

by winterhats



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, post-STR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 21:06:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16981791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterhats/pseuds/winterhats
Summary: In the end, he decides he had a good day.(Based on the "Lost Day Hour" comic by Jin & Saiyuki).





	Meaning Of

**Author's Note:**

> I finally read "Lost Day Hour", so I immediately had to write something. Shorter than usual, too, which was very refreshing.
> 
> I'm glad the first face of Haruka's we see in the comic is for Takane, and such a handsome one too~ But it really infuriated me that they didn't explain why Haruka implies he wouldn't ask Takane what a "friend" is. That was just left in the air, and I thought it was interesting.

Sunsets are nice. They're pretty, and their range of warm colours makes Haruka feel sort of sleepy. The sort of sleepy you feel after you've eaten a lot for lunch and you might want to go for a nap.

Except, Haruka didn't want to sleep, and he hadn't just had lunch. The sun was setting, after all. Dinner should be soon.

In fact, he was recognising that deep down, he wasn't as fond of the sunset as he had thought; the sun setting meant the day is ending. The sun setting means he's walking home from school, it means he has to say goodbye to his precious friends to go sit by himself at home, just like he had done all his life.

"Haruka?"

_Ah, but that's not the case anymore, is it?_

"Is everything okay?

As his bubble of thought is pinched open, Haruka's eardrums welcomes laughter and loud voices. Looking in front of him, he sees all of his dear friends walking and joking together.

The Mekakushi Dan, as they prefer to call themselves, covered in paint and joy.

 _That's right,_  he hums to himself. _I'm not walking home from school._

_I'm not even walking "home."_

_...What is "home", anyway..._

Ah, maybe with this he has found the topic for his next painting.

Although, asking everyone's opinion on it might cause a mess like the one from today. A mess in his head as much on his canvas.

 _It didn't really turn out that bad,_  Haruka continues to inwardly dwell, clunching the painting closer to him. The paint must be dry by now. _It looks rather nice, I'd say._

_And it was fun to paint with everybody._

_Even if I'm not looking forward to having to tell everyone that acrylic stains don't really... come off._

Grimacing, Haruka looks down to his own hoodie. Ah, these clothes are long gone, aren't they? Even so, he'll keep these. As a reminder of a nice day.

"Haruka!"

Jumping in surprise at the second call of his name, this time more as an exclamation of it, Haruka turns to the person who has been quietly walking next to him. He realizes with an inane feeling of joy that once he had slowed down and stayed behind everyone as they walked, Enomoto Takane had done the same to be next to him.

Well, not that he _knows_  it was to be with _him_. Maybe Takane had just happened to slow down as well. Takane has always been a slow walker, hasn't she? Yeah, that must be it.

Coughing in slight embarrassment, Haruka tries to seem like he had been paying attention, "Yes? What is it?"

"Smooth," Takane rolls her eyes. Ah, she had found him out... Not that it was very hard to tell he was spacing out (she had called his name two times, after all), but it was still a little awkward. "Listen, I know you're a fan of looking into a sole spot while you think about life or whatever, but watch where you're going."

"Ah, uhhh..."

"You stumbled into Hibiya and Mary-chan like three times, and just now I grabbed your arm to move you out of the way when you almost stepped on garbage. You didn't even flinch," Takane carries on, cutting off his nonsense stutters. "Watch. Where you're going."

At the statement, Haruka nervously glances to the group walking at the front. Hibiya was talking to Momo and Hiyori, and Mary was laughing at something Kido had said. Neither was paying special attention to Haruka himself, so he guesses he'd have to apologize later.

"Ahhh, I hope I didn't hurt them or something..."

"That's fine. Just leave the deep thoughts for when you aren't in the middle of the street."

"Y – yeah, sorry..." he offers, and it seems to be enough for Takane. She lets out a satisfied "hmph," and turns her eyes away from him with the same smirk she's been wearing all day, one that Haruka finds himself particularly liking a lot.

Would Takane be mad if she found out he didn't plan on asking her what a "friend" is? Since Haruka had no desire to ask her in the beginning.

Her answer had been nice, and seeing her just then was refreshing from all the opinions he had gotten so far.

Takane's smile as she said, _"shall we draw,"_  is still plastered to Haruka's mind. Just replaying it in his head makes his heart feel brand new.

Maybe that's why he didn't feel like asking her what a friend is. After all, it has always felt so weird to throw her in the friend category with Shintaro and Ayano.

Takane has always been special, from the very start.

"Oi, will you two hurry up?" ironically, Shintaro calls them from the front. "What are you, having a date back there? What are you whispering about?"

"Leave them alone, Shintaro-kun," Ayano hurries to say, pinching the boy's arm to make him face forward again. "They have catch up to do."

"Ah, catch up to do. Want us to prepare you a candlelight dinner while you're at it?"

Takane, almost as if she wanted to turn him into stone with her glare, glacially shoots back, "Shintaro, if you don't shut the fuck up in the next five seconds I _will_  end you."

With that, Shintaro does shut up, and turns to walk the same as he's been doing. Ayano does so too. Haruka just giggles; he guesses that after everything, he might know Takane's more than capable of being true to her word.

Of course he also appreciated Ayano and Shintaro a lot, Haruka thinks. And yeah, he appreciates all of these new found friends as well, but Ayano, Shintaro and the rest are special in a different way from Takane's.

_Ah, just look at me, trying to act like I don't know why she's special._

_I've always known, anyway._

"Takane."

"Yeah?"

"I had a lot of fun today."

To his statement, Takane grins as if she had just been told the best thing in the entire world. As if those news personally meant an improvement in her life. As if something as little as him being happy made her happy as well.

And seeing that reaction floods Haruka with a feeling no one else can manage on him, at least not like this. The warm feeling of love, the warm feeling of happiness.

"I'm really glad to hear that," she simply says, joy clear in her voice as well. "I had fun today, too~"

She sounds so sweet and euphoric.

And with that, Takane directs her eyes back to everyone. Haruka can't help but feel his smile tug downwards.

Is it selfish, to want her attention for a little longer? It's kind of dumb, isn't it? But it's because he wants Takane to think the same as him. He wants Takane to think of him as _special,_  too. He might be blushing, he acknowledges. Ah, how had he missed this feeling. Because that feeling means Takane's here.

Before he could even process what he was doing, Haruka's hand finds itself grabbing Takane's in just a second. Just like that, no warnings, no words.

When he realizes what he'd done, his first thought is that his hand is covered in dry paint. The second thought is, _oh God, what am I doing?_

Had he reacted sooner, he would've immediately looked away. But curse his slow paced demeanor, his eyes meet Takane's as fast as their hands brush.

Thing is, despite she looks as nonplussed as himself, her hands holds his back comfortably, fitting in one another as though it was a casual gesture between the two.

Albeit it took its time, a blush dyes Takane's face in a color as warm as the stain of red paint on her cheek. It was already scratching off, Haruka notes. It feels like the paint on his own face is scratching off as well.

He feels his heart beat calmly against his chest. Both had immediately stopped walking.

"Wh–"

Without even letting Takane finish her sentence, Haruka starts apologizing, "O – oh, I'm really sorry, I sort of... did it without thinking, I–"

"What do you mean _without thinking?_ " she sputters out, and maybe Haruka was too overwhelmed with himself, but he felt like her hand had tightened against his. "Wh – what does that even mean–"

He tries to answer, only a dumb babble making its way out, when Takane's embarrassed eyes travel from him to the front again. Haruka follows the direction her gaze did, and finds Ayano and Shintaro, turned to their direction for a second time, staring right into their locked hands.

Those two stop walking as well, voicing a simple reaction together, "Oh."

Haruka lets go of Takane's hand. God, she's going to kill him. She must feel even more embarrassed than him, only because of his dumb impulsiveness. Which one of his brain cells thought it was remotely okay to do this without asking her? Takane must feel so awkward.

But as soon as his hands loosens the hold, Takane immediately grabs it back, holding it as tightly as before. Haruka looks at her dumbfounded, but she's too busy angrily staring back at Shintaro and Ayano to see him.

"The hell you looking at!?" she exclaims, and oh man, maybe she shouldn't have screamed. Because now it isn't just Ayano and Shintaro's eyes on them, but everyone else's as well.

At the sound of giggles and whispers once the whole group stops walking, Haruka feels his face heat up under all of his friends' heavy stares. He clears his throat awkwardly, searching for something to say, but Takane seems to have it covered.

She handles it as gracefully as ever, "I said. _What the fuck are y'all staring at?_ "

Haruka hears something along the lines of "ah, Ene-chan is so scary in her real body," before they started shaking their heads and going "okay, okay." Soon enough, they found themselves turning their backs on them again, legs begining to move forward once more. Casual conversations continue as if nothing had happened, making Haruka note that to everyone, them holding hands mustn't have been that shocking.

Instead of getting him even more embarrassed, that makes him smile. To have everyone know that Takane is special to him this way... it's honestly kind of nice.

With that and a small nod, Takane huffs in satisfaction. She turns to him with a raised eyebrow, her blush still not making any signs of going away, "And? You're just gonna stand there?"

Haruka immediately shakes his head.

"No, no. Let's go."

Takane sends him a smile, and suddenly, Haruka knows the meaning of home as well. Hand in hand, they try to catch up with their friends' steps.


End file.
